The Nimiq satellites are four Canadiangeostationary telecommunications satellites owned by Telesat and used by satellite television provider Bell TV. 'Nimiq' is an Inuit word used for an object or a force which binds things together. A contest in 1998 was held to choose the name of these satellites. The contest drew over 36,000 entries.
Dimensions: 5.8 x 2.4 x 2.4 m and a 27 m² solar array
DC power: 120 W
Expected lifetime: 12 years
Transponders: 32
Vehicle: Proton K Bloc DM 3
Nimiq 2
Nimiq 2, launched on December 29, 2002 on a Proton Breeze M rocket, includes 2 K-band transponders. Nimiq 2 provides additional bandwidth for HDTV and interactive television applications. On February 20, 2003, Nimiq 2 experienced a partial power failure and as such can only power 26 of its 32 Ku-band transponders.
Nimiq 3, 4i, 4iR
Nimiq 3 and Nimiq 4i were leased by Bell TV from DirecTV Inc. when they were already in orbit. Originally called DirectTV3 and DirectTV2 respectively, these Hughes HS-601 models were brought out of retirement and are currently used to share some of the workload from Nimiq 2 and Nimiq 1, respectively. They went online in Bell TV's stead in 2004 and 2006.
Nimiq 4i ran out of fuel and was replacedbyNimiq 4iR on April 28, 2007.
Telesat has recently announced plans to build and launch its 19th satellite, Nimiq 5. It has selected International Launch Services (ILS) for the launch of the Nimiq 5 satellite in 2009. [1]Space Systems/Loral has been selected as the manufacturer for Nimiq 5.
Bell TV will use half of the satellite to provide a wide range of high-definition and specialty television services to its subscribers, and lease the other half of the satellite to Dish Network.
The satellite’s manufacturing plan also includes contracts with the Canadian satellite industry, including multiplexers and switches from Com Dev International Ltd. and antennas from MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates, Ltd.
